


An Arrangement

by 89curlie



Category: Harry Styles - Fandom, Larry Stylinson - Fandom, Louis Tomlinson - Fandom, One Direction
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Arranged Marriage, M/M, Many more - Freeform, royalty!au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-25
Updated: 2014-07-21
Packaged: 2018-01-02 14:51:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1058084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/89curlie/pseuds/89curlie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Prince Louis Tomlinson agrees to help his mother, the Queen, with her new campaign, he finds himself engaged to Prince Harry Styles. Louis doesn't want to be in an arranged marriage, but his mother convinces him to meet him before he chooses. </p>
<p>"I'm sorry if I say, "I need you." But I don't care, I'm not scared of love 'cause when I'm not with you I'm weaker is that so wrong? Is it so wrong that you make me strong?"~ One Direction, Strong</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Preface

**Author's Note:**

> I know this is very cliche, but this is my first ever fanfic. I do hope you enjoy. Any criticism is welcome, but not required.

            “Times are changing. We need to start recognizing, as a country, that being gay does not define who one is; it is not wrong. That is why, I am proud to announce the engagement of my son, Prince Louis William Tomlinson, to Prince Harry Edward Styles. I hope that these two will serve as a role model to our whole country, our world. I hope that this country will welcome them with open arms and wish them the best throughout their engagement and the rest of their happily married lives. Thank you.”

            The Queen steps down from the podium and exits the stage. An uproar slowly takes form; questions are being asked after her, camera flashes going off, video cameras zooming in on the exiting queen. However, the Queen was leaving no room for a backlash, this needed to happen.

******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

            “Marriage, Mother?” Louis shouts exasperatedly. “When I agreed to help you with this campaign, I didn’t realize I signed up to be married! Now Mother, I have backed you up on a lot of things without questioning you, but this is taking things a little too far. Did you ever think I would want to marry someone of my _own_ choosing? Love and all of that? How dare you put me in an arranged marriage.” Louis begins angrily pacing the room, occasionally throwing pointed glances at his mother.

            “Louis, you are being over dramat-,” the Queen begins.

            “Over dramatic?” Louis asks. “Over dramatic?” his voice raises ever so slightly. “I’m sorry mother. I never realised I wouldn’t be able to choose who I marry until now. Sure, this is no big deal to you, but to me it kind of is. Imagine, having to learn you are getting married by watching the television! No, no, you’re right, I’m being way too overdramatic. I’ll just see you at my wedding then. Speaking of, when is that? Funny, I don’t even know when my own wedding is taking place. So tell me, please Mother, when will the happiest day of my life be?”

            “Will you please just listen to me?” When Louis doesn’t say anything in return the queen continues. “Now, when you promised to help with this campaign, I figured you were on board fully. Now, I can see that I am wrong. You can back out right now if you’d like, but please before you do, think of how many people’s lives you will change. Now, we will take this slowly. I have set up a small get together tomorrow with him and his mother. I would like you to attend. Just meet him, you never know, Lou, he may even be the one.”

            “The _one_? I haven’t even met him,” Louis fires back.

            “You will tomorrow. Just do this Louis, just meet him, and then decide if you would not like to go through with this. I had an arranged marriage myself and you can see how well it worked out for me, you never know, this may be just what you need. Help you out of this funk you seem to have gotten yourself into lately. Anyway, from then on it’s rather painless, honestly. You’ll go out on public dates – just a few to start off with – and then you will start doing bigger things: look for houses together, search for wedding rings, do charity events together. This will continue for seven months, at that point, you will get married. The fourteenth of June is the date. But Louis, if, at any point, you don’t want to go through with this, you can back out. It is okay. I understand if you don’t want to marry someone random. Just try this out for me, please?”

            Okay, yes, Louis is a mama’s boy, has been since he was a kid, but that doesn’t mean he will do whatever his mom tells him. “Yeah, alright, that sounds reasonable mom.” And okay, maybe it does mean just that, don’t judge him. “But what about him mother? He should have a say too.”

            “As he will, Lou. His mother has probably already given him this speech. This can just help benefit you though. You will have someone by your side, at all times, knowing what you are going through,” the Queen says. The Queen walks over and pulls him into a hug. “Thank you for doing this Lou, it means a lot to me.”

            Louis just wraps his arms around his mother and hugs her tightly. He quickly says goodnight after that and heads up the stairs to get ready for bed. After all, he could be meeting his potential husband, he needs to get a good night’s beauty sleep in. That thought alone, made him more nervous than he has ever be in his life. Needless to say, his sleep is very fitful, so maybe he should work on that whole beauty sleep thing in the future.

 

            The next day, Louis wakes up with a stomach full of butterflies and bags under his eyes. He looks to his left to see clothes laid out for him on a chair. He hates suits. He rubs his eyes and pushes the blankets down to his feet. Slowly, he swings his legs off the side of the bed and stands up. He begins walking over to the chair before deciding to take a shower first instead. He walks over to his ensuite bathroom and strips his clothing. He turns the water to a warm temperature and steps in hoping the warm water will help to calm him.

            A half hour later, he steps out of the shower, a little bit calmer than before. That is, until he sees the suit laid out for him and then he’s back to his bundle of nerves. He takes a couple of deep breaths and changes into the suit. He walks in front of his mirror to make sure he is looking his best. He fixes his black pants that folded up a little on his left leg, and tucks in his light blue shirt after buttoning it up. Finally, he throws his jacket on and tucks in a handkerchief that matches his shirt. He snorts lightly at the tie that is laid on the chair. His mother still tries so hard for him to wear one, but they all know he won’t.

            He walks out of his room and downstairs. Having slept in a little bit longer than he probably should have, he makes it just in time for lunch. The chefs having just placed the food on the table. He sits down in his chair at the table and begins picking at his food while reading the newspaper that was sitting on the table. 

            “Good morning Louis,” his mother greets him. She sits down at the head of the table as a worker comes out with fresh tea. She lays a napkin on her lap before taking a sip. She smiles over at Louis, waiting for a response.

            “Morning Mother,” Louis says. “Sleep well, I hope?” Louis questions.

            “Wonderful, thank you for asking. Yourself?”

            “Let’s just say, not as well as you. I was just a little bit nervous to say the least. Can’t wait to meet the lucky guy,” Louis says sarcastically. “When are they supposed to get here?”

            “They are set to arrive at four o’ clock tonight. Therefore, we can have an hour for cocktails or so, before dinner is served. It should be a great night. Get to know each other and all of that,” the Queen smiles to herself.

            “Just what a first date should be, meeting the parents during cocktail hour,” Louis laughs lightly. “How romantic!” Louis dramatizes. “Oh swoon.” Louis presses the back of his hand to his forehead and pretends to faint. He lands in ball on the floor next to his chair. His mother just rolls her eyes at his antics. Eventually, Louis gets back up and finishes his lunch. “I’m going to be in the music room if you need me. No worries, I’ll be out by four.”

            Louis walks upstairs to the music room. He plays around for a couple hours until he is called down about ten minutes before Harry and his parents are set to arrive. At that point, he goes to the nearest rest room and fixes his look to perfection and heads downstairs. He waits for a couple more minutes with his mother before the buzzard rings, signaling that someone is trying to get in through the front gate. The Queen rings them through and before he knows it, there is a knock on the front door. A servant lets them through and into the room where Louis and his parents are waiting. Everyone stands up to greet each other. Sooner rather than later, Louis is looking into the eyes of his fiancé. As Harry walks over to Louis he ends up tripping on his long feet.

            “Oops,” Harry says smoothly.

            “Hi,” is Louis’ only reply, putting on a small smile.


	2. Chapter 1

Louis Tomlinson did not believe in love at first sight. He believed, that to truly love someone, you needed to know them from the inside out. You couldn’t possibly love someone, if you don’t know there personality. So, no, he doesn’t love Harry Styles. To say he wasn’t attracted to him though, would be a lie; and Louis Tomlinson was no liar.

            “Sorry you have to get married to a klutz like me,” Harry throws in with a twinkle in his eye. He sticks his hand out for Louis to shake. Louis was having none of that though and pulled his hand until he was close enough to wrap his arms around his torso, smiling at the fact that his head only reaches to where his chest reaches his shoulder.

            “There is no hand shaking in this marriage, only hand holding.” Louis smiles at him for another second or two and pulls away. He turns to the woman on Harry’s right and smiles. He steps over and gives her a small hug pulling back almost immediately.

            “You must be Louis,” the woman replies, “I’ve heard so very much about you.”

            “Well that’s terrifying. It’s nice to meet you Mrs. Styles.”

            “Oh, please, call me Anne, you are my future son-in-law after all. This is my husband, Robin,” she says gesturing to her left where a man stands. Louis goes to shake his hand and nods his head a little in greeting. Robin replies with the formal response.

            Next Louis knows, the parents are leaving the room and he is left alone with Harry. He takes his time looking at Harry, this time. He starts with his white shiny black shoes that lead to his gray trousers that cover his long legs. Harry is wearing a plain white shirt, that’s thin enough that you can kind of see through it, buttoned up with black buttons. Just like his legs, his torso seems to go on for miles also, well that explained the whole height advantage. He is wearing a gray blazer over the shirt that extenuates his figure nicely. He also notices that Harry has light pink, almost pale lips that outline his large mouth. The two things he notices the most though, are his green, green eyes and his brown wavy hair. Beautiful, just beautiful.

            “So where do we start?” Louis breaks the awkward silence. “Most people would do something lame like, favorite color or summat, but I feel like we need to start with something way more exiting. Maybe, favorite sex position or kinks – no wait! I got this, what is your favorite thing in the world?” Louis continues to babble on, while Harry looks on with raised eyebrows and a look of disbelief on his face. “Sorry, I’m nervous. I babble when I’m nervous. What do you do when you are nervous? Are you even nervous now? You don’t seem very nervous. How are you not nervous? We’re going to be married soon!”

            Louis gets cut off by Harry putting his hands over Louis’. “Too many questions. Let’s start from the beginning, shall we? Harry releases Louis’ hands only to take his left back into his right hand. “Let’s go sit on that comfortable looking sofa and talk.” Harry pulls him over to the couch and they sit down next to each other, setting their hands in Harry’s lap. Harry rubs his thumb on the back of Louis’ hand soothingly. “Alright, my favorite thing in the world…um, I honestly don’t know, I’ll have to get back to you on that one. I’m nervous, don’t worry, but, like, I want this to work. It will be good for this country, I know it will be. When I’m nervous, I guess I just stay quiet, shy away from everything and everyone, y’know? Try not to get noticed. And as for the sex questions, we’re just gonna have to wait and see, won’t we,” Harry says throwing in a wink at the end.

            “I want this to work too, I think. But if you ever want to back out of this, don’t hold on just for my sake. Please. I want you to have a happy marriage, I don’t just want you marrying me because my mother decided it would be a good idea for her campaign. That’s the most important thing. Now my favorite thing in the world is cuddling. I’m a helpless romantic, so, yeah…” Louis trails off at the end.

            “Then what are you doing way over there?” Harry asks, pulling him closer. They end up moving around quite a bit until they can find a comfortable position. It ends up being Louis just resting his head on Harry’s lap, but somehow, that makes it even better. They still hold hands, this time they’re resting on Louis’ stomach. “Should we make some ground rules? Say what we are and aren’t comfortable doing at the moment? I can start if you’d like…?” Louis nods his head in approval so Harry continues on, “Like, for instance, holding hands, hugging, even kissing, those are okay. However, I’m not sure I want to have sex, until marriage, that is. Before you ask, yes, I am a virgin, but, I don’t know, I kind of like it.”

            “Harry, there may just be some hopeless romantic in you after all. Well, I am not a virgin, just in case you are wondering, but I respect your boundaries. I don’t think I would want to have sex this early anyway. I mean, we don’t even know each other all that much. I pretty much am on the same page with you in that regard I guess. What about nicknames?”

            “What do you mean?”

            “Like, I don’t know, do you care if I call you Honey, or Love or a shortened version of Harry – is there even a shortened version of Harry? – Har? …And I’m rambling again, aren’t I?” Louis trails off at the end. Stupid nerves.

            Harry lets out a slow laugh, and how is that even possible? “Nicknames are okay. Nothing to inappropriate though. We do kind of have an image to uphold and all of that. What are some things you like to do? Like for dates and stuff. We should probably come up with some ideas for the next couple of weeks.”

            Louis starts to play with Harry’s fingers, just to have something to do with his hands. He was never any good at this _love_ stuff. “Um… anything really. We could do the classic dinner and a movie one day. Maybe we can get some coffee and tea in the mornings. Not every morning, mind you, I’m not really a morning person. Go to the park sometime. It’s wintertime, so maybe we could do some, like, Christmasy things together…?” Louis questions, his voice raising in pitch slightly at the end. “You have any ideas?”

            “Um, I love going to the theatre. Maybe some golf -”

            “Oh! And football!”

            “Okay, yes, football,” Harry replies, smiling down at him. “Ice skating maybe, plus we can do some charity things together. Go to some openings maybe. I think an art gallery is opening up soon, right outside London. Maybe we can go to some, like, concerts together? That’s all I got.”

            “That’s okay, I’m pretty sure we’re covered for like twenty years.”

            “I’m not sure about that one, but okay, whatever you say.”

            “You should probably get used to that now, Harold, I _am_ always right y’know,” Louis replies sassily. Suddenly, Louis takes a more serious turn. “Harry?” Louis asks, looking into his _greengreengreen_ eyes.

            “Louis?” Harry replies, smiling a little, uncomfortable at the sudden mood change.

            “Do you really think we can make this work?” Louis bites his bottom lip and looks up at Harry with big doe eyes. He knows he sounds insecure, but he is. He always told himself he was never going to get a divorce in his life. He didn’t want to be that person who always fell out of love with people, just to fall in love with the next person he sees. Louis was terrified that this relationship, whatever this relationship was, with Harry was going to end up badly, especially since this was arranged. “Is there even a chance…?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry this isn't longer. It sucks that I just started this, promising 5000 words at least, and it's not even close. Give me two more weeks and I'll actually follow through.


	3. Chapter 2

            Harry breathes in, “I th-”

            “Dinner is ready sir,” the butler says and then leaves the room just as quickly. Louis sighs and stands up. He waits for Harry to get up and the walk off to the dining room together. Right before they go in, Harry leans down so he is closer to Louis’ ear.

            “I don’t know for sure, but I can hope,” and with that Harry straightens up just as they walk into the room. He puts on a bright smile and pulls out a chair. “M’lady,” Harry says cheekily and throws in a wink, for good measure, towards Louis trying to lighten the mood. Louis fake glares at him for all of two seconds before he is smiling at him and sitting down.

            “Thank you kind sir. Keep this up, and we may have to move the wedding date up a couple of months.” Harry hits him lightly over the head as he pushes in Louis’ chair. He pulls out the chair next to him and sits down. Plates are sat down in from of them and they begin to eat.

            “Looks like you two are getting along quite well,” the Queen says, smiling in a way that seemed to insinuate a private joke.

            “What’s that saying you always say Mum? Fake it ‘till you make it? I’m putting it to good use.” Harry laughs and if Louis puts that sound in the back of his mind as one of the best sounds he has ever heard, well, no one has to know.

            “Oh hush, Boo Bear. I was just pointing it out.”

            Louis turns bright red as Harry cackles at the nickname. “Oh, yes, Boo Bear! Be nice. She is your mother after all. Lovely, too, I might add.” Harry says smiling in her direction. If Louis wasn’t so embarrassed, he would probably take in the way his dimples flash, and his nostrils flare, instead he just hides his face in his hands and hope it all goes away. “Oh, are you embarrassed honey?” Harry asks, maybe putting a little _too_ much emphasis on the word honey. “Aw, come here,” Harry says, pulling him into his shoulder and patting his head at the same time.

            “I can still feel you laughing, you bastard.” Louis starts pushing at Harry, trying to hold on to whatever dignity he still has. Harry, however, just pulls him closer, almost choking him in the process. “I hate you, let me go.”

            “No is that any way to talk to your fiancé, Boo Bear?” Harry questions tauntingly. Louis does the only thing he knows possible in this situation; he bites his neck. “Hey,” Harry drawls, “that is going to leave a bruise.”

            “Good.”

            “Can we at least try to act our age at the table?” Harry’s mum asks.

            “Sorry,” Louis and Harry say at the same time. They turn back to their plates, flushes on both of their faces this time. Harry pats Louis knee a couple of times and then uses the same hand to pick up his fork and begin eating again. Louis smiles slightly and follows suit, and maybe his face is just that much redder than before.

            “So Louis,” Anne’s mum starts off. “I hear you are planning on going to college next year? Where did you apply?”

            “Cambridge, Oxford and Manchester.”

            “Ambitious I see. What are you studying?”

            “Business and Law. Me mum says those will help the most for when I take over the thrown. I probably would have studied those subjects anyway. I love learning about Law especially.

            “Interesting, Harry is studying Law as well.”

            Louis turns around to face Harry. “You’re at Uni? I thought I was older?”

            “You are, I skipped a couple grades. I was home schooled, so I tended to get through thinks quicker. It was nice just having one on one time with a teacher. Everything was taught at my pace,” Harry says, right on the verge of cockiness and humbleness, a fine line indeed.

            “Well don’t I feel stupid,” Louis says, “are you being home schooled for college as well then?” Louis tries not to sound too sad about this, but he just had this vision of him being the older, more intelligent, more wise one. Now Harry is just going to come in and change that? He is already taller.

            “No, I actually go to Oxford. Maybe we can go to the same school together,” Harry says smiling. “I can show you the ways.” Harry is completely oblivious to Louis’ blatant discomfort about Harry’s higher intelligence over him.

            “Yeah, maybe,” Louis says with a frown on his face. The table falls silent, as they finally begin to feel the tension in the room. No, not tension, discomfort, definitely discomfort.

            Not wanting for this seems-to-be-working plan to end now, the Queen interrupts with a question of her own. “So, what’s the verdict? Are we going through with this or not?” She stares expectantly at Louis, but it is actually Harry who addresses her.

            “We decided that we will try. We will not guarantee anything of course, but we will definitely give one hundred percent. We’re going to start off slowly though. Go on a couple coffee dates before, you know, going out to a fancy dinner, or hosting or own charity ball. Never know though, these things always have a fifty-fifty chance,” Harry says, looking into the Queen’s eyes.

            “I guess that is all I can ask for.”

            After small conversations that center around getting to know each other and their respective parents, the dinner ends. Louis and his parents show Harry and his family to the door. Harry and Louis walking just a step behind their parents.

            “So, would you like to get some tea with me tomorrow morning then?” Louis questions. He looks up at Harry’s face and waits for a reply. Harry looks surprised for all of two seconds before he looks down at Louis with a dimpled smile placed upon his face.

            “I would love to.” Harry pulls Louis into a warm embrace and snuggles his face into his neck. “What time were you thinking? I don’t have anything I have to do until one, so any time before then would work best for me. Although, I guess we could also go after I finish that thing. I believe it ends somewhere around seven or eight at night.”

            “No, no, I can do before one. I like my tea in the morning better anyway. How about ten thirty. That way we can spend about an hour, hour and a half together and you’ll still have time to get ready for whatever it is that you have to do.”

            “C’mon Harry! We have to be leaving,” Anne’s voice interrupts them.

            “Alright mother,” Harry drawls. He quickly throws on his shoes and follows his parents out the door, but not before saying a quick “See you tomorrow, Boo.” He’s dead.

******************************************************************************

_I’ll be at your door in 10 minutes. You better be ready. This is Louis by the way._

 

Louis sent the text from the back of his family’s car, hoping it Harry would actually see the message. Fortunately, for him, he was waiting by the front gate for him. Louis’ driver pulls over and puts the car in park before stepping out to open the door for Harry. Harry climbs into the car and puts on his seat belt. He turns and gives Louis a charming smile.

            “Hello, my Louis,” says Harry cheekily, and if Louis gets this feeling in the lower part of his stomach from the words _my Louis_ , well, no one has to know. “How is my lovely fiancé today?”

            “I’m well, thank you. Are you always this – this flirtatious?”

            “I’m fine, too, thank you for asking,” Harry says, causing an eye roll from Louis. “As to the second question, I would have to say I am. At least, my mother says I am. But hey, there’s nothing wrong with that is there? I can maybe try toning it down a bit, if you want. I don’t know ho-”

            Louis reaches over and grabs Harry’s hand, efficiently shutting him up. He gives his hand a little squeeze for reassurance and proceeds with, “It’s okay Harry. I kind of like it. I mean, it works for you.” Louis blushes a little and ducks his head, completely missing the arising blush on Harry’s own face. “Besides, you shouldn’t change just because I want you too.”

            “But you’re my fiancé,” Harry fires back. “I am here to make you happy, Love. Besides, being flirty isn’t necessarily a good thing. If this thing actually works out between us, it could land me into a lot of trouble in the future. Plus, how bad would it look if a pap shot me being a little too flirty with a waiter or something? Maybe I should tone it down anyways.”

            “Well, when you put it like that,” Louis says back quietly. “We’re probably going to have to come up with a story about how we met soon. Like, a background thing…? So if anyone asks, we can be ready with an answer. Or even worse, if we are asked in different spots, we need to have matching stories. We don’t have to have one today, or even for a couple weeks really. We cannot talk to the press for a while and still be okay. They won’t expect any real stories and interviews until something big happens. Anyways, we should talk about it soon at the very least.”

            “Alright, we can brainstorm some ideas. Looks like we are here, ready Boo Bear?” Harry asks, smiling widely. The driver opens the door for them and Harry steps out. He turns back around and holds his hand out for Louis, who takes it gratefully and is pulled out of the back of the black car. Harry begins to turn to the coffee shop when Louis tugs his hand causing Harry to stop and look at him questioningly.

            “Listen here, Harry, only my mother gets to call me that name,” Louis says as menacingly as he can, which turns out to be not that terrifying.

            “But Lou _is_ , I thought you liked nicknames!”

            “Yes, I do. Good ones like, Love, Sweetie, Honey, things of that nature, not Boo Bear. My mom has been calling me that since I was a baby!” Louis tells him.

            “Please Lou? I think it’s cute. Besides, I’m your fiancé I should have embarrassing names that I call you from your childhood. Please, oh please, oh please?” Harry looks down at him with pleading eyes and it takes everything in Louis not to just agree with him on the spot, he may have to look into that in the future.

            “Fine, but please don’t tell anyone else.” Louis was not expecting Harry to wrap his arms around his shoulders in happiness, but hey, who was he to argue? After all, people were expecting this from them. He wraps his arms around Harry’s waist and pulls back. He drags Harry into the coffee shop and right up to the till by his hand. “I’ll just have tea. Nothing in it please.” Louis orders. He turns to Harry, “What would you like Harry, my dear?”

            “Um, I’ll have a caramel frappe please,” Harry replies after a second of thought. He pulls out his wallet, but Louis shoos it away with one of his hands while he pulls out his wallet with the other. Louis is handing over the money before Harry can even think to argue. They walk down to the end of the counter as they wait for their drinks.

            “So, young Harold, what do you have planned for this afternoon that you cannot commit fully to me for the day?” Louis says in a dramatic way, doing his best to look offended and extremely saddened all in one. “You know me? Your loving fiancé who does all the work in this relationship.”

            Harry rolls his eyes with a small smile on his face as he tries to recall his assistant’s words this morning. “I’m not really sure to be honest. It has something to do with my mum’s new charity project. Saving the starving, I believe. It’s only supposed to last for a couple hours though. We can meet up after if you’d like, talk about some things,” Harry says vaguely in hopes that Louis will realise that he can’t really bring it up in public.

            Luckily, Louis seems to understand and replies back with, “Yeah, okay, just stop by at any time tonight. I have nothing going on today, at least, I hope so, since I clearly will not be attending it based on my limited knowledge on the event.”

            “Louis. Harry,” the waiter calls out from the counter. Did she have to shout so loud? They were the only two in the place and right next to the counter at that. Hmph. Louis and Harry both grab their respective drinks and head to a table in the far corner. They take off their jackets and put them neatly on the back of their chairs before sitting down. They both take a couple sips, okay with the silence for a little bit.

            “Maybe we should do a twenty questions type of thing. I mean, if you are correct about people asking us these types of questions in the future, we probably should know a little bit more about each other than the colour of hair we both have,” Harry says suddenly. “Look, I’ll start. What is your favorite colour? Wow, that was so cliché even by my own standards.” Still, Harry looks at Louis expectantly, waiting for him to answer the proffered question.

            “Red. Shall we answer our own question too, to help speed things along? Plus, we can ask twice as many questions then.” Louis looks questioningly at Harry for a second before Harry is nodding back in affirmation.

            “Orange. Now it’s your turn…?” Harry asks, trying to see how to play this game with these new made up rules.

            “Favorite food?” Louis replies back simply.

            “I’m not really sure, I guess right now, I am a fan of sweet corn. I try to eat healthier than most people, I guess.”

            “Mine is definitely Pizza. Oh! Or maybe pasta. Hmm, it’s a tossup. Do you have a coin on you by chance?” Louis smiles mischievously at Harry. He seems to be biting his lip as if he is trying to hold in his laughter at his own joke.

            “Favorite band? Mine’s The Beatles,” Harry says instead of answering Louis’ last question.

            “The Fray. Um… Favorite film? _Grease_ is hands down my all-time favorite, I could probably act out every scene.”

            “I’m going to hold you to that Louis, mine is actually a romantic comedy. Kind of embarrassing for a guy, but it is _Love Actually_.”

            “Mate, you’re gay. Wait, you are gay I presume, right?”

            “Even though it is _my_ turn to ask the question, I am gay yes. You?”

            “Of course,” Louis says, almost sounding offended. Almost.

            Suddenly Harry’s phone is ringing from where it is place on the table and he goes to check the caller I.D. “I’m sorry, but it’s my mum. I should probably answer.”

            “No, no, go ahead.” Harry picks up the phone on the last ring, bringing it up to his ear.

            “Hello mum,” Harry says in greeting. Louis tunes out politely and focuses on drinking as much of his tea as he can, seeing as he hasn’t been drinking all that much of it in the process of this game. He stares around at the still empty shop, almost hoping that something big happens so he can stop awkwardly trying to ignore Harry’s phone call with his mother. Luckily for Louis, Harry is hanging up, and pushing back his chair. He pulls on his jacket as he begins speaking. “I’m really sorry Lou,” Harry begins, “I guess my mum needs me to pick up her dress on the way home. Which, of course, is on the opposite side of town. We can pick up where we left off tonight, yes?”

            “Sure. You can take my car, I can call for another one.”

            “It’s okay, apparently mother already sent one.” Almost as if on cue, a sleek black car pulls up the shop door and a driver is stepping out. Harry is running out of the shop with a quick “G’bye” before he knows it. Louis finds himself moving slowly to where his own car is trying hard not to be disappointed about the lack of hug. It’s okay. He’ll get one tonight, he tells himself. He opens the door and tells the driver to head on home. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, everyone. Sorry for not posting last week. I know I had previously promised at least 5,000 words per week, and still, I seem to be falling short. However, I think it would be better if I just uploaded weekly instead of by how many words. As I'm sure we all know, some weeks are busier than others. Plus, that many words is a lot harder than I imagined. I do know where this story is going (Roughly), however, I find it hard sometimes to have the will power to begin writing everyday. Once I begin though, I can't stop usually. Is that okay with everyone?


	4. Chapter 3

It’s seven thirty at night when the buzzard goes off, signaling there is someone at the gate. The butler, Henry, verifies to make sure it is someone the family knows before allowing said person to enter. Henry and Harry enter the house a couple minutes later. Henry is just telling Harry where he can find Louis when the Queen stops him suddenly.

            “Harry, do come here darling. I need to talk to you about some things. Henry, please fetch Louis,” the Queen watches as Henry runs of in the direction of Louis’ bedroom before standing up from her spot on the couch and wrapping Harry up in a hug. “You look so handsome in that suit. Coming from your mother’s charity event I take it? Oh, do tell her I am sorry I couldn’t stop by, will you? I had some last minute things to take care of.”

            “Of course ma’am. I’m sure she will be glad to hear that nothing terrible has happened, she was worried when you didn’t show. You’re not one to just not show up. All is well though, we raised an enormous amount for her charity,” Harry speaks formally, almost uncomfortably. He visibly relaxes once Louis comes up to them. “Hello Louis.”

            “Harry,” Louis says in greeting. “What would you like mother?” Louis questions, straight to the point. Louis leads Harry over to the couch the Queen previously occupied and sits down. Harry takes the spot next to him, naturally. The Queen, instead of choosing to sit on the same couch with them, decides to sit in a chair directly across from the couch.

            “We have decided the first scheduled public appearance will be tomorrow. The publicists thought the first planned appearance should be at a charity event to help lessen the blow. Keep it focused on the charity y’know? Well, after a lot of discussion we decided that the art exhibit opening tomorrow would be the perfect spot, seeing as the profits go towards an LGBTQ community. That way if people are asking to personal questions, you will not look bad answering in obscure ways. Like, if they ask you how it feels like coming out as the first royal gay couple, you can just say something along the lines of, it is great that we are able to help equality in all areas of our world, and so on and so forth. This also helps reign in support for my whole campaign in general. The whole ordeal should be rather painless and then you will be in the privacy of the exhibit and won’t have to worry about keeping up appearances all night. Now, keep in mind, not many people know this is arranged, so you do have to keep up somewhat of an appearance, but not answering any questions from the paps. Also, keep in mind, you should not have too much personal displays of affection, but a kiss on the cheek here, or holding hands there, isn’t going to hurt anyone,” the Queen finishes with a pointed look in their direction hoping to convey her message in an even more convincing way.

            “Right, sounds good. You good Harry?” Louis questions looking next to him to where Harry is fidgeting with his hands awkwardly. Before Harry so much as looks up Louis carries on with, “Great! We will be upstairs if you need us mother.” Louis stands up and holds both hands out to Harry who takes them with a look of relief on his face. Harry is yanked up into a tight hug and they are on their way to Louis’ room without a glance behind them.

            “Alright there Curly?” Louis looks over to the still nervous looking boy besides him.

            “Oh, yeah,” Harry says, finally meeting Louis’ eyes. “Just seems like a lot to take in all at once, y’know? It doesn’t seem like such a big deal though, like the Queen pointed out.”

            “You worry quite a bit, it will be fine. Besides, there is nothing to worry about, you are a natural born charmer. You can charm the pants off of just about anyone I imagine. Answering these stupid questions people throw at us should be no problem at all. You can just throw in a smile, putting your gorgeous dimples on show and maybe flash them a wink for good measure. Easy as pie.”

            Although Louis is just as nervous as Harry is, he finds it necessary to keep Harry calm. When Harry releases a cackle at his antics though, he can’t help but relax as well. Even if it is only a tiny bit.

            “So, did you come up with our great story yet, oh wise one?” Harry asks back with a smirk. “I tried, but could not come up with anything close to a good story. Mine were all clichés. We need something to keep people interested.”

            “Harry, we are the first gay royal couple, it doesn’t get any more interesting than that,” Louis says leading the way into his room. Harry takes in the champagne coloured floors, cream colored walls and dark antique looking furniture before he responds to Louis with a noise that sounds vaguely like an agreement. Like a child, Harry goes and nose dives into the navy coloured sheets covering the bed and sinks into the mattress.

            “Can you please make room on _my_ bed for _me_ , Mr. Styles? I would really appreciate it.” Louis is waiting for a response for a little while until he realizes he isn’t going to be getting one. “Alright then,” Louis says and pushes Harry almost off the bed before climbing on himself. “Alright, two year old, story time. How did we fall in love?” Louis questions a little over the top, or a lot.

            “Well, Boobear, I was hoping you came up with something, as I pointed out earlier, I have nothing,” Harry says. Harry flips himself over so he isn’t face down in Louis’ pillow, looking over at Louis expectantly. “By the look on your face right now though, it seems you have nothing either. How about we come up with something together?”

            “Alright, that sounds easy enough. So, where do we begin? It will have to be realistic, maybe we can meet at one of my mother’s charity events,” Louis says, he pulls his legs upwards so he can get the blanket out from under him. After he has the blanket in hand, he stretches his legs out again, and pulls the blanket over him. “Harry, come under the blanket with me, I’m cold,” Louis drawls out, a little tired. Harry complies willingly enough, even going as far as to move closer to him so that their sides are touching. “Thanks.”

            “You’re welcome. So, your mother’s charity event. We’ll have to recent charity events of hers. Maybe not to recent though, don’t want to make it look like we are just getting married on a whim,” Harry replies back.

            “Yeah, I can have my PR team look into it. They can find us the perfect one, I’m sure. That’s pretty much the big thing. From there on out, we can just say that we really hit it off after I literally fell into your arms, I’m extremely clumsy, so everyone would believe it. From there, you won me over with your curly charm and fell in love.”

            “Right,” Harry agrees easily enough. “Then we got engaged, I obviously was the one to propose–”

            “Why is that obvious?” Louis asks curiously.

            “Because I’m the man in this relationship. It’s only fair that I should be the one kneeling,” Harry says like it is the most obvious thing in the world.

            “Why are you the man?”

            “Well, no offense honey, but you are smaller than me, by a lot,” Harry says with a smile on his face. “Plus, you are more feminine looking than I am and let’s not forget about your ass. Face it Boobear, I am the man in this relationship.”

            “Yeah, how can anyone take offense to that? You only mocked my sense of masculinity,” Louis says harshly and pulls away from Harry so their sides are not touching anymore. After a second, he turns himself on his side so he is facing away from Harry as well. So he is a drama queen, judge him.

            “Oh, don’t be like that. C’mon, I was just pointing out the obvious. You can’t pretend like you are the more masculine one between us.” When Louis doesn’t say anything on the matter, Harry wraps his arms around him and clasps them around Louis’ stomach. He pulls back so Harry’s front presses against Louis’ back. “Boobear, c’mon honey. I’m sorry, you can be the one to propose if you would like,” Harry says, trying anything to get Louis to talk to him again.

            Louis drapes one of his arms over Harry’s and he grasps his fingers loosely in his. “No, you’re right. It just sucks knowing you are bigger than me. It’s quite the hit on my dignity, just have to accept it, I guess. Seeing as we are going to be married and all,” Louis says, sighing with reluctance.

            “Don’t think of it as a bad thing. It’s a good thing really. Think about it, if you weren’t so small, I wouldn’t be able to wrap you up in my arms like this, keep you warm. I will be able to carry you a lot easier for when you don’t want to walk anymore. You can rest your head on my shoulder, or hide you face in my chest when you get embarrassed when I call you Boobear. See? There is nothing bad about it!” Harry exclaims.

            “Except a great hit to my dignity. You did make some great points though. I guess a little hit will be okay. Just gets rid of some of my cockiness.” Louis begins to play with Harry’s hands, specifically his fingers. Harry presses his face into Louis’ back so he can feel the smile spreading across Harry’s face.

            “Alright, so that takes care of that, I guess just follow along with anything if anything else comes up. Great, can we play a video game? You have an awesome looking setup going on in the corner of your room.” Harry is already standing up, though, and walking over to the black leather couch sitting in front of the large flat screen. Louis sighs at the loss of warmth and gets up as well. He begins walking over to the couch, but not before grabbing a blanket off the end of the bed. He wraps it around his shoulders before sitting down next to Harry on the couch. “Oh! Let’s play FIFA! I love this game!” Harry exclaims grabbing the game and putting the disk into the gaming system.

            “I should warn you, I am pretty good at this game, and that’s not even my ego running off again, I beat everyone. Don’t be too disappointed if you lose,” Louis says. He tells everyone this when he plays them. Everyone just writes it off as Louis being egocentric, however, he really does have a knack for the game. The whole sport in general, if he is being honest.

            “Yeah, plush, I really suck at this game. So I guess, I should warn you, I suck at this game. This is not me being humble, I truly do suck at this game,” Harry quotes Louis, smiling the smug bastard that he is.

            They play a couple rounds, Louis beating Harry every time, by quite a lot, too. They banter back and forth a little, but really the both knew that Louis was going to win every time. At one point, Louis was up by seven goals when Harry got the ball and Harry went on for the last four minutes of the game saying how this was going to be his huge comeback, which ended in Louis scoring another two goals instead. They decided to call it quits after six or seven games though on account of calling it an early night to get a good rest for their first official public appearance.

            “I’m sure I will be picking you up sometime tomorrow, or rather, William, my driver, will, and I will be seated in the back. I know as much as you do on the timing of everything, so I will text you tomorrow as soon as I know the whens and the wheres. Keep me posted as well if you find out anything on your end of the show,” Louis says. He leads them down the stairs and to the front door where Harry begins putting on his Converse.

            “Will do,” Harry replies back easily. “Until tomorrow then, my love,” Harry says throwing in a wink just for sole purpose of making Louis blush, which works effortlessly, a soft pink blush spreading over his high cheekbones. Harry kisses him on one of his lovely cheeks and pulls back with a softer smile this time. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Louis. Let’s hope it all goes well.” Harry turns around and opens the door.

            He is half way out when Louis says, “It will. I have no doubts, so you better not either.” So, at the end of the day. Louis is still left reassuring his future fiancé, even when he has his own fears swirling deep in the pit of his stomach. “Good night, Harry.”

            “Good night, Louis,” Harry replies, and if Harry looks a lot more relaxed then he did five seconds ago, well, maybe it was just in Louis’ imagination. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little late, or a lot. Another one will be up on Sunday though. I promise. With some good drama.


	5. Chapter 4

The hours leading up to their first date passed in a mixture of nerves and excitement. As the nerves kicked in the time decided to taunt them and go as quick as possible, leaving them less time to mentally prepare for the night that was to become, but as soon as the excitement hit, time would pass in slower increments, creating more time to get nervous. Texts were sent back and forth between Harry and Louis that helped distinguish the time and places people were meeting. Finally after what seemed like days, but was only five and a half hours, Louis was a limo on the way to Harry’s house to pick him up for their first official date.

            When Harry steps into the car, Louis can feel the dread rolling off of him in waves. Therefore, after the quick exchange of greetings, Louis pulls Harry into his chest and is rubbing circles into his left hip, where Louis’ hand lays from wrapping his arms around him. They don’t speak for a little bit, both in their own little worlds, trying to predetermine what questions will be thrown their way, as well as comments filled with hate.

            Even though Harry and Louis are making this relationship seem like it is going very well, right from the get go, they both know it will be a long difficult road from them here on out. They have both seen the news, heard each and every story about this celebrity coming out as gay and losing a ton of support, or this movie producer not hiring this actress since she was found kissing that girl. They know what lies ahead of them, they just don’t know if they are ready for it quite yet.

            “Calm down, Harry. It’s going to be fine. We’ll only be talking to the reporters for like five or ten minutes. How much can really go wrong in that amount of time? Plus, we will also have the support from our friends in family, who are hopefully going to be close to us at all times, but, you know what, even if they aren’t, I will be close, and that’s all that matters, all right? Just you and me, your fiancé. We will have each other through this whole ordeal. We’ll be okay, as long as we have each other. We both know what the other one is going through. We’ll just ignore the hatred coming our way and soak up the love. This will work, love, and we’re going to be the ones to show everyone that it is okay to be gay.” And maybe Louis didn’t mean to make that a whole speech, but a little shred of hope passes over Harry’s features and that makes all the difference. Sure, Louis is a bundle of nerves at the moment as well, but even he has to admit, he is feeling a little less nervous. He made some good points. He has Harry, he doesn’t need anything else. He has Harry, the rest, he can deal with in strides.

            “It is right around the corner, sir,” William replies dutifully.

            “Thanks, Will.” Louis turns to Harry one last time in the private eye, “We can do this, love, just keep breathing.” Suddenly the car is stopping and William is stepping out of the car to open the door for them. Cameras are already trained on the car, ready to see who will pop out next. Before they know it, Louis is stepping out of the back of the vehicle and holding his hand out towards Harry, for him to take. Louis leans down as harry takes his outstretched hand to whisper, “You look handsome, by the way. Thought you might like to know that.” This was well timed on Louis part, since Harry has a slight blush on his cheeks when he is pulled out of the vehicle as well by a smug looking Louis Tomlinson. Flashes are going off all around them, capturing the moment, these two seemingly in love people. “Deep breaths, Harry. We can do this,” Louis reminds him again, and then Harry is smiling down at him and turning Louis around. He presses his large hand to the small of Louis’ back and guides him forward so they are in the crossfire of the paparazzi.

            As the flashes increase in frequency from the whispers that the gay princes have arrived, a boo is heard from the back of the crowd. Just one at first, but it slowly grows into one low rumble. Reporters are asking questions left and right, enough to keep the booing to just a low thrum in the background, but it can still be heard as evident by the stiffness in both of the Prince’s shoulders. Suddenly, Harry is the one leaning in to whisper, “Just ten minutes, honey. Ten minutes,” and when did Harry get so courageous all of a sudden? It doesn’t matter, point is, if Harry can do it, so can Louis. So he puffs his chest out and starts making his way over to a reporter with curly blonde hair who was trying to shove her way to the front to ask the Princes her questions.

            “Hello, Love,” Louis says with all of his charm. Harry steps to Louis right and removes his hand from Louis’ back in favor of holding his hand. They both shine their award winning smiles in her direction. The reporter’s eyes grow wide as she realizes that Prince Louis Tomlinson picked her out of the crowd to ask the first ever question of the pair.

            “Hello, my name is Maisie with Closer Magazine. How does it feel to be the faces of the Queen’s new campaign, promoting equality across the nation?” the reporter questions, jumping right into it. Louis was glad this was an easy enough question to answer. He also appreciated that she didn’t ask a too personal question, or even worse, one they didn’t necessarily know the answer to.

            “This is actually the first time in a public appearance,” Louis says, taking the reins on this one, “we are still testing the waters, I guess you could say. My mother has always been a strong supporter on the subject since I told her I was gay, oh, about six years ago…? During the whole time Harry and I were dating, she kept asking us to help her launch her new campaign. We kept putting it off, not wanting it to interfere with our relationship, but I think we both knew that it was pretty much a done deal when we were engaged. She asked us again about a week after Harry proposed and we agreed easily enough. It is a huge feat, but I think we are both glad to help with something we both obviously support.” Louis wants to thank every publicist who has ever kept him up to teach him how to answer questions under pressure. Maybe he will send them all a gift basket tomorrow.

            “You say this is your first public appearance, how long have you been together, if this is your first outing?” Maisie fires back quickly. Okay, maybe Louis shouldn’t have mentioned that part so blatantly. So much for the gift baskets, he is suing them all.

            “Oh, what he meant to say, was first scheduled public appearance,” and thank god for Harry knowing what to say. “Being the first openly gay royal couple, we were told to keep our public outings to a minimum for obvious reasons as I’m sure you could guess. We did find times to sneak into a restaurant or a theatre every now and then. Plus, we both love going and getting tea in the mornings, it’s actually a miracle no one has gotten a picture of us together. Either that, or our press management have been buying a lot of pictures back from the press before they were released,” Harry realises he is rambling a little at this point, since he picks it back up with, “In any case, we haven’t had to deal with much of the public yet to know their opinion on us.”

            Louis and Harry are ushered forward by a couple of people in suits, bodyguards, he’s sure. They walk a couple more meters in front of them until stopping to answer more questions being shouted at them. “Hello, Charles from Bliss. When is the wedding date?”

            Louis gives a loving look in Harry’s direction, who noticeably pales back, trying to play it up a little bit. “The fourteenth of June. We decided we would love to have a summer wedding, and then our mothers finalized the date, trying to work around all of our schedules.” Harry puts his arm back around Louis in a one arm hug and squeezes him closer, thanking Louis for knowing the answer. They both smile towards the reporter again. Suddenly, a loud shout is heard from the crowd, “Faggots!” Louis just wraps his arm around Harry, as well, and squeezes back.

            “How are you dealing with all of the hate?” Suddenly, Louis doesn’t like this guy anymore.

            “Like we were just telling the other reporter, we haven’t really been around it enough to know the public opinion. Except for that guys, of course,” Louis throws in cheekily with a grand smile. “We knew it was going to come at us though, but we have each other to keep strong. We both know what the other is going through. When we signed up for this campaign, we knew we would have a lot of hatred coming our way, but we are just hoping for twice as much love. Like my mother, the Queen said, change is coming, whether the like it or not. We are just at the forefront, blocking the hatred for the people who will follow closely behind us.”

            “One more question,” one of Harry’s bodyguards speaks quietly from behind them. Charles seemed to have heard though, since he gets a nasty glint in his eye.

            “What is it like being the one to single handedly stop the royal family line? Since you are gay,” and if Louis is correct, the word is said a little harshly, “there will be no heir coming from you. It has to be from the boy in the family, last I checked.” Well, it’s official, Louis definitely hates this guy. Why did Louis never think about that?

            Harry, like the good fiancé he is, steps in for him. “The Queen is seeing what she can do to bypass that law. We will all be eager to see what happens,” and suddenly, Harry seems a little angry at the man as well. “I’m sorry, but that is all the time we have for you,” Harry says a little crossly.

            Harry steps back and puts his hand back on the small of Louis’ back. He rubs a little up and down knowing Louis is off his game from that last question. They have made it to the point where a pictures are being taken of all guests entering the gala. No reporters are allowed in the area, and for that Louis and Harry are grateful. So, they take their pictures together, arms around each other firmly and even a quick peck on the cheek from Harry who is trying to help ease the tension out of a dazed Louis. Then finally, they are in the quietness of the Hall where the art exhibit is being held and letting out their breaths.

            Even though, it seems like they have been at this for hours, the night is still young and they still have appearances to upkeep. Louis turns to Harry first and smiles up at him. He pulls him out of the doorway, where another couple is coming through the door behind them, and leads him over to a corner of the room where they can have some privacy.

            “We did okay, didn’t die out there!” Louis says, almost a little crazed. Harry wraps him up in his arms, and pulls Louis into his chest, holding him firmly. Louis leans his head on Harry’s chest, confused a little at the sentiment, but appreciative, nonetheless. Harry begins rubbing his back in comforting circles and Louis takes a couple deep breaths.

            “It’s okay, Lou. We can figure out the whole kid thing latter. We will absolutely not discuss it here, so don’t even think about mentioning it,” Harry says quickly, seeing Louis opening his mouth. “This isn’t the time, nor place, and you know it. Forget about it for a couple hours and have a good time with me.” Louis seems a little hesitant still, so Harry continues with, “Boobear, I’m asking you, as your fiancé, to let it go tonight. Let’s pretend this is a date. I’m asking you on a date, Lewis, you’re not going to say no to your husband, are you?” Harry smiles cheekily.

            “It’s Louis, and I’m not your husband yet.” Louis says stubbornly, but he is smiling just a tad, his left corner of his mouth pulling up in the corner.

            “Yet,” Harry agrees easily. “Fourteenth of June, going to commit that one to memory, glad you had that date memorised, how bad would it have looked if we didn’t even know the date to our own wedding?” Just like that, the tension leaves the both of them and Louis takes a step back out of Harry’s arms.

            “Come on, you weirdo.” Louis drags him over to a table filled with hors d’oeuvres. They both grab a couple finger foods to eat before making their way to the first painting in the exhibit. A waiter passes by them with flukes of champagne and they both take one, almost greedily. “Cheers, to our second official date, let’s hope you don’t leave me by my lonesome self like the first one,” Louis says with a smile on his face.

            “Never again,” Harry replies with a new seriousness in his voice. “I promise, you have my word.”

            “Don’t get too serious on me, here. I believe you, I was joking. Now, what do you get from this lovely painting?” Louis questions, pointing to a large white canvas filled with red abstract lines. Louis puts on a face that makes it seem like he is pondering the wonders of the world.

            Harry decides to play along. “Well, the red obviously symbolizes either love or hatred, I would question whether there is an actual difference between the two.” Louis lets out a loud laugh at that. “Now, as I was saying, before you so rudely laughed at my obvious brilliance, since it is painted on a white canvas and not a black one, I’m going to have to go with love. Now, the lines going in seemingly random directions, represent all the ways in which this particular lover is being pulled. There is the guy from her yoga class, the baker down the street. See?”

            When Harry looks over at Louis, he has his small hand over his mouth, smothering a giggle from escaping, but his bright red face gives him away. However, before Harry can berate him for it, Harry feels a hand come down on his shoulder. “That is exactly what this picture represents, how did you know?” Louis looks over Harry’s shoulder to see the man whom asked the question, and quickly stops laughing. Harry quickly turns around, a large smile spreading across his face. He lunges forward and wraps his arm around the guy. “Nick! I didn’t know this was your exhibit we were attending today!” Harry exclaims excitedly.

            “I’m offended. You came to an exhibit without even knowing who the _artist_ was!” Nick exclaims a little too loudly, attracting some annoyed looks their way. Nick leans down and kisses Harry on both of his cheeks before taking a step back. “How are you, Harry. I haven’t heard from you in days, _days_ , and suddenly you are all anyone is talking about. How did you get yourself Prince Louis, I mean your good, but you’re not _that_ good.” And okay, really, they are going to pretend like he isn’t standing less than a meter away?

            “It’s my curls, what can I say?” Suddenly, Harry seems to remember that they are talking about Louis, who he is supposed to be talking to right now. “Nick, this is Louis, Louis, Nick. We go way back. We’ve been best friends since, what, I was ten years old? Something like that. He’s helped me through a lot.”

            Louis nods shortly. “So, this is your exhibit? We’ve really only looked at this picture in detail, but from what I can see, it looks really nice.” Louis’ eyes rest on Harry’s hand by the end of his words, where he seems to have placed his hand on Nick’s elbow. Okay, Louis knows they aren’t really in love and all of that, but they need to be acting like it. Louis looks back up to Harry’s eyes trying to communicate as much, but Harry’s eyes seem to be trained on Nick’s still. “I guess I will let you two catch up some, I have to go talk to my mother for a second.”

            It’s a lie, it’s a blatant lie, but Harry doesn’t even spare him a parting glance, already asking Nick a question, so Louis tries to look through the crowd quickly to locate the whereabouts of his mother. Luckily, for him, she is straight ahead. He walks up to her in the middle of her talking about her newest charity event she will be hosting sometime this upcoming week. She gives Louis a fleeting glance, but continues on knowing if Louis really needed her, he would pull her away for a second.

            She continues on with her plans to what looks to be some type of business man for about five minutes before he feels a pair of arms wrap around him. He looks behind him to confirm that is, in fact, Harry (without Nick), before turning back around again. The people in the circle who are talking to his mother, give the two a judging glance in their direction, before turning back to the Queen. Louis takes that as his cue to leave and pulls Harry back across the floor to the second picture on the wall.

            Harry doesn’t mention anything, so neither does Louis. They continue off right where they left off until they have gone through each painting in the exhibit. Making up stories, more ridiculous than the last, for each one. Half way through, Louis forgets all about that Nick guy and begins to have a great time with Harry again.

            The exhibit comes to an end sometime around midnight, Harry and Louis share a tight hug and a promise to make plans for their next date sometime soon. As Louis is sitting in his car on the way back to his house, he thinks back to the first painting with the red lines, and thinks that maybe Harry has multiple directions in which he can go still. The thought doesn’t sit very well with Louis.


	6. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long. Next one will be longer and hopefully posted next Sunday, if not though, definitely the next Sunday.

The next month sees Louis and Harry on many dates, private and public, sometimes a mixture of both. It starts of slowly, a couple more charity events where pictures were taken to later be posted on the front pages of magazines. By the end of the month, their faces are scatted across every single news item in the country as well as a couple others. The five o’ clock news was privy to relaying the story up until their wedding. Magazines were keen to seeking out every juicy detail the couple is keeping under wraps, or trying to at least. The juiciest thing they have found so far was how often they were staying at each other’s places. The number coincidentally went up the day after the article came out, the press team apparently unhappy about the small number. So, after a couple more charity events – “…to help ease the nation into this relationship” – Harry and Louis were ordered to go on more “private-public” dates to help it seem more personal. Which led to the first accident.

            It was the first one of their private dates as they were walking in the restaurant. They just got out of the car when someone in the small crowd gathered around shouted out, “Fag!” Louis hesitates for a split second, nothing too noticeable, well, to anyone who is not Harry. The latter of which spreads his large hand across the small of Louis’ back and guides him into the restaurant.

            When they step inside, Harry turns to Louis and says, “It’s okay Lou, we knew it was going to happen. Just have to pretend like we don’t even hear it, is all.” Harry pulls Louis in to a tight hug quickly, and then takes a step back while keeping his arms loosely around Louis’ waist.

            “Yes, but just because we expect it to happen, doesn’t mean it hurts any less.” Not knowing what to say, he turns to the left and sees a waitress openly gawking at them. Harry smiles at the waitress for a split second and then fully steps back from Louis, unwrapping his arms from around his waist.

            “Maybe this isn’t the time for this conversation.” Harry then leans forward so his mouth is right by Louis ear, Louis may hold his breath for a second as he does so, and says, “The waitress may be staring at us a little too openly, and we don’t want this story ending up in tomorrow’s paper.” Louis nods his head once and takes a step back. He tells himself it is because he does not want the waitress to pick up on anything, but if he’s being honest with himself, he is trying to give himself room to breathe.

           

            The second incident happened about a week later. Harry and Louis were out at a gay bar. This date didn’t involve any PR team. Maybe if it did, the pictures wouldn’t have shown up the next day. It was about ten at night and Harry had just arrived at Louis’ house to meet up. They had decided a few mornings ago, over coffee, that it would be fun to go out to a bar together, a gay bar, naturally, just seemed like the way to go. Harry had arrived at Louis housed dressed in dress shoes, black skinny jeans and a matching black t-shirt that dipped low to show off his collar bones. His hair was gelled back around his face, but left his curls intact.

            “Wow, Curly, you sure now how to dress up for such an occasion,” Louis told him upon the second of him walking through his door. “Had I just met you in a bar, probably would have hit on you.”

            “You already got me, baby,” Harry says lewdly, while throwing in an extra wink for good measure. Harry saunters over to where Louis is standing in navy TOMS, red pants, a striped shirt and black suspenders. He hooks his fingers in Louis’ belt loops and pulls him forward so their torsos touch from top to bottom. “Maybe you should put a ring on it before I change my mind.” He places a peck on Louis cheekbone and pulls back with a cheeky smile. “Then again, if you are gonna be looking like this throughout our marriage, I don’t even need a ring. I’m not going anywhere.”

            Louis flushes bright red and shoves at Harry’s chest. “Oh bugger off! What’s got you in such a mood? Hmm?” Louis quickly grabs his jacket and begins walking out of the house with Harry in tow. They step into one of Louis’ family’s car to begin the short journey to the bar.

            “Oh, nothing really too big. I just am in a good mood today. Must be because I’m seeing you! Or it could be because my sister is in town. Hey! You should come over sometime soon. I would love for you to meet them. My sister was my best friend growing up. Her husband is quite the character as well. Very loud, a great ball of energy, but you love him. His name is Niall and my sister’s name is Gemma. You’ll love them, I promise.”

            Okay, Louis hasn’t known Harry for that long, but this is definitely the most he has talked since Louis has met him. So, no, he couldn’t say for sure what was up, but he had an inkling. “Have you been drinking already?” And okay, maybe Louis shouldn’t have asked that so bluntly, but what other explanation was there really?

            “No… okay, maybe a little. Just a tiny bit tipsy. I was just nervous about tonight. I have never been to a gay bar before. I was always told by PR to keep it low, stay in the straight bar seen. Y’know? Anyway, yeah, new experience.”

            “You do know you can’t hit on them right, I know we are not technically married. Yet. But, people do believe we are engaged and proper in love. It’s not going to look good if you walk in with your fiancé and out with some random guy.” Louis suddenly starts second guessing this whole going out thing.

            “No! No! I know that! I am not talking about _that_ kind of experience. It’s just new and exciting in general, going out. Plus, I was going to be with you and we are going to have to act all lovey dovey and I don’t know, we don’t really know each other all that much. But, and this is a huge secret, I get handsy when I’m drunk, so I figured this will help us out! See, I’m so smart! You just make me so nervous, Lou.”

            Ignoring the last part, Louis takes a deep breath and answers, “Okay, it seems like you really thought this through. Although, maybe you shouldn’t have too much more to drink when we arrive. We may not want to leave piss drunk, either.”

            “Okay, Louis, whatever you say. I’ll just stay by your side the whole night so you can keep me on track like the great fiancé I know you are.” Harry smiles and leans his head on Louis shoulder. He takes his hands and wraps them around Louis’ biceps, testing out the thickness of them. Something he may have been wanting to do since the first night that they met each other. Harry giggles from giddiness now that he has finally doing it. I mean this is his future husband and he’s too scared to touch his arm. Oh goodness.

            Upon arrival, the driver turns around to tell them that there is more paparazzi than expected and that he will help them out one at a time to help protect them from the hordes of people around them. A few minutes later, they are both through the door with little to no problems in-between.

            The night started off well enough, a couple of beers at the counter and then some dancing on the floor that was awkward at first, but once the alcohol settled into both of their systems, the gripping of each other picked up in frequency while their bodies scooted closer to each other. Every once in a while, after they were dehydrated from all of the dancing, they would go back to the bar for another round or two. Louis forgot pretty quickly that Harry had already had some alcohol in his system before they even stepped foot in the door. Which of course is when Nick made a reappearance into their lives.

            “Hazza! Fancy seeing you here, how’s the boyfriend treating you?”

            “Fiancé,” Louis is quick to fix.

            “Prince Lewis,” Nick says in his direction, taking an ostentatious bow.

            “Louis,” he replies. Harry unfortunately thinks that this was just the funniest thing to happen all night though, and is almost doubled over in laughter. So much for the support from his supposed ‘other half’.

            “Hiya Nickypoo! I’m well, so is _Lewis_.” Louis is going to kill someone. “What are you doing out here?” Louis wraps an arm tightly around his waist, whether for support or constraint, he’s not sure. Harry was having none of that however, for he just latches his arms around Nick’s neck and buried his smile into his collar bone. Interestingly enough, Louis’ first thought was _does Harry want someone who is taller than him?_

            “It’s a gay bar. What do you _think_ I am doing? Not all of us can just be handed someone to be married to. Even if we did, we couldn’t all end up with _princes_ now could we. Some of us actually have to work for what we end up with in life.” That comment could be directed to both Louis and Harry, but with the way Nick’s eyes never left Louis’ throughout his speech it was clear who it was directed to.

            “I think it’s time to go Harry. We have that thing tomorrow early in the morning, and we are already sloshed enough.” Louis tugs on Harry’s hand to try and coax Harry into coming back to him.

            “But we’ve only been here for a couple hours. And Nick just got here! We can’t just leave now!” Harry practically screams while trying to tug his hand out from Louis’. “Let’s just stay for a little longer,” Harry pleads practically begging Louis with his eyes.

            “Fine, but just for another hour or so,” Louis complies, albeit begrudgingly. Which is how he found himself leaving the bar an hour later by himself after getting in another small argument that ended with Nick telling him to stop being a cock block to his fiancé.

            The pictures that covered the magazines the next day were of Harry latching onto Nick’s hand as they left the bar a couple hours after Louis did. All promising a story of the inevitable end for these to love birds. Needless to say, their press teams had a fit. Luckily for them, after a couple more forced outings that occurred within the next couple days after the incident, The Wanted ended up making some comment against gays that started up another big story. So the whole thing was blown behind them with the promise of Harry and Louis never doing that again.

            The last date of the month opened a floodgate. It was on the way out of the restaurant they went to where they shared a lovely dinner. Paparazzi had gathered outside the restaurant during their dinner after someone had tweeted that the Princes were sharing romantic dinner together. As soon as they stepped out, flashes were going off and microphones were being shoved in front of their mouths in preparation for the onslaught of questions there were sure to come. Ignoring them all, Louis and Harry continued on towards the limo. Once they had arrived, someone quickly shouted, “How come we haven’t seen you guys kiss yet? Is this fake, you claimed to have been dating for all these months, but no one has a single fuzzy picture even.” Harry and Louis share a glance and in that moment they decided now was the right time. After all, they knew this was going to happen sooner rather than later. Harry took the first step leaning down, where Louis quickly stood on his tiptoes, until their lips were pressed together.

           Now, Louis didn’t have a lot of kisses growing up. His mother was the Queen of England, it’s not like that many people, girls and guys alike, were jumping at the chance to be in that situation. However, Louis did have a couple of kisses to compare Harry’s too. Not that it was even that comparable in the first place. It was just a peck on the lips, not lasting for more than two, three seconds top, but somehow, it felt way better than when the girl Hannah shoved her tongue down his throat, or Eleanor’s thin lips. Louis pulled back with a smile on his face, and laughed when Harry’s hand came up to the back of Louis’ neck and began pulling him back down in for more.

          Louis put firm hands on Harry’s chest and, although he didn’t push him away, he didn’t let him come any closer. “Not now, I think they got enough for today,” Louis says, gesturing to the paparazzi with a nod of his head. “At least wait until we’ve made it in the car, love.” Louis smiles like the little shit that he is and ducks down in the car, with Harry soon following him. They made it until they turned the corner before Harry wrapped his long fingers around Louis’ neck and pulled him in for another kiss. Louis lets out a little groan in the back of his throat, feeling like he had waited way too long to feel this sensation, and from his fiancé no less.

          When Louis woke up in the arms of Harry, though, he realized that maybe it was worth the wait.


	7. The one with the apology.

Hey guys,

 

There has been a couple comments recently asking me if I will be updating this story any time soon. Unfortunately, this story didn't get as much response as I was hoping it would receive. Also, I decided to try something different on my other account where I post 1,000 words a day for a story I'm doing over there. That story is doing very well. So, I decided I would stick to that story for now. If you want to check it out it's called Act Your Age by 5_Seconds_of_Summer. That one I can guarantee will be uploaded daily. I understand if you don't though. 

 

As of right now, I'm putting this story on the back burner. I'm going to call it a Hiatus, but in all honesty I doubt I'm going to come back and post regularly. If I did anything it would just be adding a chapter every once in a while. 

 

Sorry for wasting your time. 

 

~A :(


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